Stimulus update: Direct payment worth up to $400 to be available for Massachusetts residents in five days

Asher Notheis

March 10, 10:44 AM March 10, 10:44 AM

Recipients of the Chelsea Eats program in Chelsea, Massachusetts, only need to wait five more days before they receive their first payment worth up to $400.

A total of 738 households will receive payments ranging from $200 to $400 on March 15 from the program, with the payments being sent to help Massachusetts residents buy food and pay their utility bills. The city intends to distribute these payments via debit cards in early March and have all the cards activated by March 15, a Chelsea city spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.

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"The city notified recipients directly via correspondence," the spokesperson said. "All recipients need to come in person to pick up their card on their assigned day."

As of Wednesday, more than 400 of the debit cards have been distributed to recipients of the Chelsea Eats program, according to the spokesperson.

To be selected for this program, applicants had to have been residents of Chelsea and had a household income 30% less than the area median. For a household of one, this income level would be $29,450, and for a household of two, it would be $33,650, with the income limit increasing slightly for each additional person in a household.

The amount people will receive from this payment will depend on the recipient's household size. A household of one will receive a payment of $200, a household of two will get $300, and any household with three or more people will receive a payment of $400.

Next week's payment will be the first of three payments this program will provide to recipients. The other payments will follow in the months after March, with one issued to recipients in April and the last one in May.

Additional information about this program can be found on Chelsea's webpage on COVID-19 emergency assistance programs.